I received a baby shower invitation today. The shower is the day before Easter, it has the 'book instead of a card' poem stuck in there with an extra little note at the end that said 'if you are buying diapers, any size except newborn would be appreciated'. Blech. I might take a card and a pack of newborn diapers as my gift.
Re: A whole lot of tacky in one envelope.
Same thing happened to us. It wasn't just the hype, but my doctor kept telling me throughout the pregnancy that DD was going to be a large baby. 2 weeks before my due date they estimated her weight as 8lbs 5 oz. I was terrified I was going to have a 10 pound baby! When she was born (3 days early), she was 7lbs 8 ozs. DH had to go buy newborn diapers and newborn size sleep sacks. We cycled through the same 3 onesies and 3 ouftits for a good 3-4 weeks.
I totally agree that people should buy that stuff anyway and I'll probably be including newborn diapers in any shower gifts I give going forward...especially if I'm instructed not to. :P